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from DM Denton
Praise for Without the Veil Between, Anne Bronte: A Fine and Subtle Spirit
August 20, 2018, Prof. Maddalena De Leo, Brontë scholar and representative of the Italian section of The Brontë Society (La Sezione Italiana della Brontë Society)
The novel by DM Denton, Without the Veil Between – Anne Brontë: A Fine and Subtle Spirit, puts the accent on the lesser known of the three Brontë sisters, the British authors who have become famous throughout the world in the last century. I remember that forty years ago their name appeared little in the European encyclopedias, and Anne, the third sister, was mentioned only by name, without even knowing that she had written two novels instead.
Today, however, Anne Brontë has been greatly re-evaluated and in the last twenty years, thanks to translations of her works in various languages and a BBC production of her second and longer novel, she is considered, in some respects, even the most modern of the three. With grace and discretion, DM Denton, through this novel, wants to start an unaware reader [on] the path of endurance carried forward with determination and modesty by the “smallest” of the sisters, tracing the developments during the last seven years of [her] life. It highlights those that were characteristics in her, already common to the other two, namely the determination and courage to assert their ideas often deviating from the conventions of the time.
Through the succession of chapters in the book, where the historical-biographical information is dutifully mixed with the imagination, we discover wonderful family pictures in which we are almost in contact with the daily life of the Brontë family; we see discussions and small skirmishes between the sisters; we live and share the constant concerns of all of them with regard to their brother Branwell, who is on the wrong path and with no return.
Above all, through the well-measured words of Denton, a young Anne emerges more and more, especially in the final chapters. She frees from the web of religiosity with which she traditionally is painted, [and] tries to leave something good in the world through her measured but deliberately targeted writing. A different Anne at the beginning of the book, timidly in love, and then resigned to accept her own death with dignity and fortitude without moving the reader piteously, as often happens in various modern biographies or film biopic transpositions. All this is to give credit to Diane M. Denton who, with her delightful pencil drawings on the inside but also on the cover of the book, has contributed to make a meaningful homage to the memory of Anne Brontë.
The novel by DM Denton, Without the Veil Between – Anne Brontë: A Fine and Subtle Spirit, puts the accent on the lesser known of the three Brontë sisters, the British authors who have become famous throughout the world in the last century. I remember that forty years ago their name appeared little in the European encyclopedias, and Anne, the third sister, was mentioned only by name, without even knowing that she had written two novels instead.
Today, however, Anne Brontë has been greatly re-evaluated and in the last twenty years, thanks to translations of her works in various languages and a BBC production of her second and longer novel, she is considered, in some respects, even the most modern of the three. With grace and discretion, DM Denton, through this novel, wants to start an unaware reader [on] the path of endurance carried forward with determination and modesty by the “smallest” of the sisters, tracing the developments during the last seven years of [her] life. It highlights those that were characteristics in her, already common to the other two, namely the determination and courage to assert their ideas often deviating from the conventions of the time.
Through the succession of chapters in the book, where the historical-biographical information is dutifully mixed with the imagination, we discover wonderful family pictures in which we are almost in contact with the daily life of the Brontë family; we see discussions and small skirmishes between the sisters; we live and share the constant concerns of all of them with regard to their brother Branwell, who is on the wrong path and with no return.
Above all, through the well-measured words of Denton, a young Anne emerges more and more, especially in the final chapters. She frees from the web of religiosity with which she traditionally is painted, [and] tries to leave something good in the world through her measured but deliberately targeted writing. A different Anne at the beginning of the book, timidly in love, and then resigned to accept her own death with dignity and fortitude without moving the reader piteously, as often happens in various modern biographies or film biopic transpositions. All this is to give credit to Diane M. Denton who, with her delightful pencil drawings on the inside but also on the cover of the book, has contributed to make a meaningful homage to the memory of Anne Brontë.
ptember 4, 2018 Joanne Dalton, Amazon UK
I really enjoyed this book, it’s one of those novels you can’t put down once you start reading. It’s also a great looking book as well as a good read. The author’s distinctive illustrations really enhance it.
Anne has always been the lesser known and sadly underrated Bronte sister. Diane’s book does much to remedy this. It’s a novel but very faithful to.what historical facts we know about Anne and her family. I have read a lot of Bronte biographies (including the recent ones by Ellis and Holland) and also Anne’s two novels. There was nothing in Diane’s book that struck me as inaccurate or jarring. I must admit, when reading a novel by an American author about an English subject and locations, I would usually be worried about finding geographical mistakes and anachronistic language/Americanisms. Not the case here. Diane has clearly done a lot of research and thoroughly knows her locations and settings.Diane’s characterisations of the Bronte siblings are well done and she illuminates many scenes in Anne’s life which we wish we knew more about, such as her tragic romance with William Weightman and her trip to London with Charlotte. The novel starts at the seaside and ends there too. Bronte fans will of course know the sad ending but Diane writes so movingly, it’s like learning it for the first time. Whilst Emily was a child of the moors and loved to close to home, Diane presents in Anne a more adventurous spirit, one who went out into the world and looked out at the sea. So appropriate that Anne was buried there, the only Bronte not to be buried at home in Haworth.
Very highly recommended to both Bronte fans and those who are new to their work.
I really enjoyed this book, it’s one of those novels you can’t put down once you start reading. It’s also a great looking book as well as a good read. The author’s distinctive illustrations really enhance it.
Anne has always been the lesser known and sadly underrated Bronte sister. Diane’s book does much to remedy this. It’s a novel but very faithful to.what historical facts we know about Anne and her family. I have read a lot of Bronte biographies (including the recent ones by Ellis and Holland) and also Anne’s two novels. There was nothing in Diane’s book that struck me as inaccurate or jarring. I must admit, when reading a novel by an American author about an English subject and locations, I would usually be worried about finding geographical mistakes and anachronistic language/Americanisms. Not the case here. Diane has clearly done a lot of research and thoroughly knows her locations and settings.Diane’s characterisations of the Bronte siblings are well done and she illuminates many scenes in Anne’s life which we wish we knew more about, such as her tragic romance with William Weightman and her trip to London with Charlotte. The novel starts at the seaside and ends there too. Bronte fans will of course know the sad ending but Diane writes so movingly, it’s like learning it for the first time. Whilst Emily was a child of the moors and loved to close to home, Diane presents in Anne a more adventurous spirit, one who went out into the world and looked out at the sea. So appropriate that Anne was buried there, the only Bronte not to be buried at home in Haworth.
Very highly recommended to both Bronte fans and those who are new to their work.
June 17, 2018 Veronica Leigh, Veronica Leigh Books
I was ecstatic when I learned that someone had written a novel about my favorite Bronte, Anne. The younger sister of Charlotte and Emily Bronte, history has overlooked the youngest Bronte sister. Her two novels had been panned by Victorian critics, from being too vulgar and scandalizing. Even Charlotte was ashamed of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” and after Anne’s death, prevented it from being re-released. In the last twenty years or so there has been a revival in her popularity and she is now considered an early feminist icon. I won a copy of “Without the Veil Between” (as well as a beautiful illustration of Anne) and quickly devoured it. A faithful portrayal, the story follows Anne from her early days as a governess, to her literary collaborations with Charlotte and Emily, to the devastating downfall and death of her brother Branwell, and to the death of her beloved confidant Emily. Anne’s life was tragically cut short by consumption, which seemed to plague the Bronte family. It was refreshing to come across a biographical novel that beautifully portrayed the sweet, devout, and sensitive Anne, that clung close to fact. Those who know me well, know how irritated I get when I read a historical novel riddled with inaccuracies. Anne begins as a shy girl and evolves into a strong, capable woman who refuses to be silenced, no matter the opposition.
I was ecstatic when I learned that someone had written a novel about my favorite Bronte, Anne. The younger sister of Charlotte and Emily Bronte, history has overlooked the youngest Bronte sister. Her two novels had been panned by Victorian critics, from being too vulgar and scandalizing. Even Charlotte was ashamed of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” and after Anne’s death, prevented it from being re-released. In the last twenty years or so there has been a revival in her popularity and she is now considered an early feminist icon. I won a copy of “Without the Veil Between” (as well as a beautiful illustration of Anne) and quickly devoured it. A faithful portrayal, the story follows Anne from her early days as a governess, to her literary collaborations with Charlotte and Emily, to the devastating downfall and death of her brother Branwell, and to the death of her beloved confidant Emily. Anne’s life was tragically cut short by consumption, which seemed to plague the Bronte family. It was refreshing to come across a biographical novel that beautifully portrayed the sweet, devout, and sensitive Anne, that clung close to fact. Those who know me well, know how irritated I get when I read a historical novel riddled with inaccuracies. Anne begins as a shy girl and evolves into a strong, capable woman who refuses to be silenced, no matter the opposition.
May 1, 2018 Valerie Adolph, Historical Novel Society
This novel about Anne, the youngest and least-known of the Bronte sisters, deals sensitively with the trials of a young woman who struggled through a difficult life. It reveals Anne as a combination of poetess in the style appropriate for an English lady and as an early feminist writer keenly aware of her submissive role as a young lady in Victorian society.
Anne’s poems are lyrical, illustrative of the depth of her feelings. As befits the daughter of an Anglican clergyman they also demonstrate her belief in the closeness of God. Yet Anne Brontë is known as one whose beliefs about the role of women in many ways formed the basis of the later feminist movements.
This book illustrates the life of Anne the sister and daughter. It reveals her despairing affection for her brother Branwell, with his Byronic good looks and gradual descent into alcoholism. Her sisters too, are well characterized – Charlotte the eldest, practical, bossy and dismissive of Anne’s talent as a writer, and Emily’s warm- heartedness.
Anne’s adult life is shown as she progresses from unhappy governess – a role appropriate but unsuited to her – to published poet and novelist. Her two novels ‘Agnes Grey’ and ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ are less well known than her sister’s novels but demonstrate no less talent and insight.
The author has clearly researched Anne Brontë’s writing in all forms. The quoted poetry and prose in the end notes add depth to the whole. The scenes of Anne and her sisters are sensitively imagined and show a sisterly mix of affection and irritation ... worthwhile to open the book to discover more about Anne, the least appreciated of the Brontë sisters.
This novel about Anne, the youngest and least-known of the Bronte sisters, deals sensitively with the trials of a young woman who struggled through a difficult life. It reveals Anne as a combination of poetess in the style appropriate for an English lady and as an early feminist writer keenly aware of her submissive role as a young lady in Victorian society.
Anne’s poems are lyrical, illustrative of the depth of her feelings. As befits the daughter of an Anglican clergyman they also demonstrate her belief in the closeness of God. Yet Anne Brontë is known as one whose beliefs about the role of women in many ways formed the basis of the later feminist movements.
This book illustrates the life of Anne the sister and daughter. It reveals her despairing affection for her brother Branwell, with his Byronic good looks and gradual descent into alcoholism. Her sisters too, are well characterized – Charlotte the eldest, practical, bossy and dismissive of Anne’s talent as a writer, and Emily’s warm- heartedness.
Anne’s adult life is shown as she progresses from unhappy governess – a role appropriate but unsuited to her – to published poet and novelist. Her two novels ‘Agnes Grey’ and ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ are less well known than her sister’s novels but demonstrate no less talent and insight.
The author has clearly researched Anne Brontë’s writing in all forms. The quoted poetry and prose in the end notes add depth to the whole. The scenes of Anne and her sisters are sensitively imagined and show a sisterly mix of affection and irritation ... worthwhile to open the book to discover more about Anne, the least appreciated of the Brontë sisters.
April 29, 2018 Kimberly Eve, Victorian Musings
This is the most beautiful novel about Anne Bronte and her sisters that I've read in a very long time. It is the first I've read by author, DM Denton but not the last. I couldn't put it down once I'd started. I fell into the author's languid writing style and was captivated by her research and depth of scope of the life of the sisters. Let me be clear when I say that, Without the Veil Between is written from Anne Bronte's perspective; focusing mainly on a brief seven year period in her life (1842-1849). Within these seven years, you meet young Anne who lives with her minister, widowed father along with brother Branwell, sisters Emily and Charlotte.
What stood out for me was the way the author humanized the entire Bronte family. I just loved the scenes written at home sometimes whispered sibling conversations so that "father" wouldn't hear or seated around the dinner table everyone eating, sisters giving scraps to pets Keeper and Flossy while their fathered asked how they were all doing?
Of course, the most interesting were the chapters covering the sisters writing poetry, secret novels, coming to publication during their own lifetime. The scene between Charlotte Bronte and her father reading her published novel brought me to tears; his pride as father in that moment and how I'm sure he wished his wife, Maria could be there. Also, included throughout the novel were bits of Emily and Anne's poems. The novel is beautifully illustrated by the author herself. It is a book to be savored and enjoyed.
This is the most beautiful novel about Anne Bronte and her sisters that I've read in a very long time. It is the first I've read by author, DM Denton but not the last. I couldn't put it down once I'd started. I fell into the author's languid writing style and was captivated by her research and depth of scope of the life of the sisters. Let me be clear when I say that, Without the Veil Between is written from Anne Bronte's perspective; focusing mainly on a brief seven year period in her life (1842-1849). Within these seven years, you meet young Anne who lives with her minister, widowed father along with brother Branwell, sisters Emily and Charlotte.
What stood out for me was the way the author humanized the entire Bronte family. I just loved the scenes written at home sometimes whispered sibling conversations so that "father" wouldn't hear or seated around the dinner table everyone eating, sisters giving scraps to pets Keeper and Flossy while their fathered asked how they were all doing?
Of course, the most interesting were the chapters covering the sisters writing poetry, secret novels, coming to publication during their own lifetime. The scene between Charlotte Bronte and her father reading her published novel brought me to tears; his pride as father in that moment and how I'm sure he wished his wife, Maria could be there. Also, included throughout the novel were bits of Emily and Anne's poems. The novel is beautifully illustrated by the author herself. It is a book to be savored and enjoyed.
April 22, 2018 JimZ
Poignant effort to humanize the memory of the least known of the Bronte sisters. Ms. Denton brings Anne to us in the context of her spirit, family, struggles, and artistic genius. Thanks to such books as 'Without the Veil Between,' we are coming to see that Anne Bronte belongs high in the pantheon of significant 19th century literary figures, and further, should be remembered as the fine spirit that she was. Well done.
Poignant effort to humanize the memory of the least known of the Bronte sisters. Ms. Denton brings Anne to us in the context of her spirit, family, struggles, and artistic genius. Thanks to such books as 'Without the Veil Between,' we are coming to see that Anne Bronte belongs high in the pantheon of significant 19th century literary figures, and further, should be remembered as the fine spirit that she was. Well done.
April 1, 2018, Martyna Grasyte
There are a few novels you can enjoy as much. The language and the style of story telling are the strongest points. Reading it is like going to another place, so wonderfully written it was. I loved the difference portrayed between the lives Bronte sisters normally led and the upper world of literature-perfectly summed up in this paragraph: 'A certain fragrance from that Cinderella evening was the last thing Anne enjoyed before she finally fell asleep. Her short, discreetly mended gloves weren't laid on the dresser with her sister's equally worn out ones, but on her pillow where she could inhale the delicately floral perfume the slightest touch of the Smith sisters fingers had transferred to them.'
And finally, it was the only Bronte based novel I've read that got the essence of Emily (Anne's sister). Maybe not in a way she talked or dressed, but in a way she was.
Anne was done very well too. Especially passages about her writing and her relationship with William. Her relationship with William had a strange other-worldly tone to it. 'Oh, dear God, let his memory stay with me and never pass away'. A unique work of art.
There are a few novels you can enjoy as much. The language and the style of story telling are the strongest points. Reading it is like going to another place, so wonderfully written it was. I loved the difference portrayed between the lives Bronte sisters normally led and the upper world of literature-perfectly summed up in this paragraph: 'A certain fragrance from that Cinderella evening was the last thing Anne enjoyed before she finally fell asleep. Her short, discreetly mended gloves weren't laid on the dresser with her sister's equally worn out ones, but on her pillow where she could inhale the delicately floral perfume the slightest touch of the Smith sisters fingers had transferred to them.'
And finally, it was the only Bronte based novel I've read that got the essence of Emily (Anne's sister). Maybe not in a way she talked or dressed, but in a way she was.
Anne was done very well too. Especially passages about her writing and her relationship with William. Her relationship with William had a strange other-worldly tone to it. 'Oh, dear God, let his memory stay with me and never pass away'. A unique work of art.
February 21, 2018 Amazon Customer
I’ve just finished reading this beautifully written novel by DM Denton. The title is inspired by one of Anne Brontes poem In Memory of a Happy Day in February ..”I long to view that bliss Devine; Which eye hath never seen; To see the glories of his face without the veil between” The novel has a feel of the writing of Anne’s time and I love the way the author has woven lines from Anne’s novels and poetry within the story. It’s fantastic to see the writer bring Anne’s genius to the forefront and out of the shadows of her more celebrated sisters Emily and Charlotte . Lovely illustrations throughout . If you are a Bronte fan it’s definately a book for your collection or just a good introduction to the life of Anne Bronte. I would highly recommend.
I’ve just finished reading this beautifully written novel by DM Denton. The title is inspired by one of Anne Brontes poem In Memory of a Happy Day in February ..”I long to view that bliss Devine; Which eye hath never seen; To see the glories of his face without the veil between” The novel has a feel of the writing of Anne’s time and I love the way the author has woven lines from Anne’s novels and poetry within the story. It’s fantastic to see the writer bring Anne’s genius to the forefront and out of the shadows of her more celebrated sisters Emily and Charlotte . Lovely illustrations throughout . If you are a Bronte fan it’s definately a book for your collection or just a good introduction to the life of Anne Bronte. I would highly recommend.
January 16, 2018 Martin Shone, author of Being Human, Silence Happens, and After the Rain
Anne Bronte comes through as a leading character in her own right, not as an understudy. Diane has written an exceptional history of a hidden jewel in the family Bronte and imbued her with a strength, a tenderness, and a will to animate and to shine.
Literary fiction has another distinctive voice in Diane Denton.
Anne Bronte comes through as a leading character in her own right, not as an understudy. Diane has written an exceptional history of a hidden jewel in the family Bronte and imbued her with a strength, a tenderness, and a will to animate and to shine.
Literary fiction has another distinctive voice in Diane Denton.
December 16, 2017 Christoph Fischer, author of The Luck of the Weissensteiners, Ludwika, In Search of a Revolution, and other books
In her previous work Denton wrote about a musician and composer whom she adores, and this seems to be the trademark of her writing. The same love for her subject shines through in the writing of this fine novel about Anne Bronte.
I know little of the Bronte sisters, so I can judge the book merely on its writing and characterization, and Denton excels in both of them. I lived with the sisters on every page, moved by their spirit and touched by the tragedy. The sisters came to life in a manner that I never questioned historical accuracy or wondered about artistic license. For me this was the story, delicately written with wonderful descriptive prose, attention to detail and a love for the genre. While I feared the Bronte sisters might be a bit ‘too girlie’ a subject for me, I needn’t have worried. The depth and gravity of Anne Bronte comes across perfectly, making for an extremely satisfying read.
In her previous work Denton wrote about a musician and composer whom she adores, and this seems to be the trademark of her writing. The same love for her subject shines through in the writing of this fine novel about Anne Bronte.
I know little of the Bronte sisters, so I can judge the book merely on its writing and characterization, and Denton excels in both of them. I lived with the sisters on every page, moved by their spirit and touched by the tragedy. The sisters came to life in a manner that I never questioned historical accuracy or wondered about artistic license. For me this was the story, delicately written with wonderful descriptive prose, attention to detail and a love for the genre. While I feared the Bronte sisters might be a bit ‘too girlie’ a subject for me, I needn’t have worried. The depth and gravity of Anne Bronte comes across perfectly, making for an extremely satisfying read.
December 8, 2017 Thomas Davis, author of The Weirding Storm
Diane Denton's new novel, Without the Veil Between, should be read in a place where time, inside and outside the reader, is suspended, and today and tomorrow are not absolutes, but songs faintly heard as the sun descends into a shining sea's horizon. The story of the Bronte family told through the thoughts and emotions of Anne Bronte, the sister who did not become the powerful force in English literature her sisters, Charlotte and Emily, did, the story explores how genius interplays with everyday frustrations, sensations, and tragedies of life, transmuting the imagination and observations of three brilliant sisters into the tapestry of stories and poetry still relevant to our contemporary lives.
What the Bronte story has always had at its core is a question, how did literary genius flower in three women of a Victorian family from the English village of Haworth and the landscape of the English Moors when the mother died so young and the father was a clergyman in a small village? After all, in the years she served as a governess, the idealistic Anne had a status only a little better than that the servants hand in that time's stratified English society.
Denton's novel provides more than a hint of how the three sisters turned societal and domestic constraints in which they lived into characters and stories and poetry that have stood the test of time. Anne was, at least to the modern sensibility, a great novelist in spite of her contemporary reputation, and as she weaves her gentle spirit into dealing with the dissolution of her brother, her father's loving distraction, and her two sisters' determination to overcome the limitations of their sex in Victorian society, the reader gets a sense of how genius rose out of the tensions, love, and straining within the family itself.
This was not a flowering of genius from wealth and status, but from sparks engendered out of living in a certain time and place where meals were prepared and eaten, long walks in foreboding weather were gloried in, and conversation helped spur what would seem to have been, at the time, literary efforts without much chance of bearing fruit.
What Denton has achieved is a portrait placed in a time very different from the jangling present. Her story resonates in a way that suspends years and centuries and lets us feel the joys and sadness of a writer whose unflinching look at life, especially in her novels, rings with the authenticity of who, inside, she really was.
Diane Denton's new novel, Without the Veil Between, should be read in a place where time, inside and outside the reader, is suspended, and today and tomorrow are not absolutes, but songs faintly heard as the sun descends into a shining sea's horizon. The story of the Bronte family told through the thoughts and emotions of Anne Bronte, the sister who did not become the powerful force in English literature her sisters, Charlotte and Emily, did, the story explores how genius interplays with everyday frustrations, sensations, and tragedies of life, transmuting the imagination and observations of three brilliant sisters into the tapestry of stories and poetry still relevant to our contemporary lives.
What the Bronte story has always had at its core is a question, how did literary genius flower in three women of a Victorian family from the English village of Haworth and the landscape of the English Moors when the mother died so young and the father was a clergyman in a small village? After all, in the years she served as a governess, the idealistic Anne had a status only a little better than that the servants hand in that time's stratified English society.
Denton's novel provides more than a hint of how the three sisters turned societal and domestic constraints in which they lived into characters and stories and poetry that have stood the test of time. Anne was, at least to the modern sensibility, a great novelist in spite of her contemporary reputation, and as she weaves her gentle spirit into dealing with the dissolution of her brother, her father's loving distraction, and her two sisters' determination to overcome the limitations of their sex in Victorian society, the reader gets a sense of how genius rose out of the tensions, love, and straining within the family itself.
This was not a flowering of genius from wealth and status, but from sparks engendered out of living in a certain time and place where meals were prepared and eaten, long walks in foreboding weather were gloried in, and conversation helped spur what would seem to have been, at the time, literary efforts without much chance of bearing fruit.
What Denton has achieved is a portrait placed in a time very different from the jangling present. Her story resonates in a way that suspends years and centuries and lets us feel the joys and sadness of a writer whose unflinching look at life, especially in her novels, rings with the authenticity of who, inside, she really was.
December 2, 2017 Mary Clark, author of Tally: An Intuitive Life, Miami Morning, and Racing the Sun
Early in Diane Denton's book the young curate, William Weightman, says to Anne Bronte: "You must find such satisfaction in being able to capture those moments the rest of us let slip away and sometimes aren't aware of to begin with." This is an essential part of Denton's own gift. With this ability she is able to enter the world of a shy artist who lived in the shadows of her father, brother, and sisters, and in the light of a determined and insightful intellect. Anne Bronte set herself a more difficult task than her famous sisters, Charlotte and Emily. She was on a course of an artist whose subject was her life. Making this even more difficult, she sought to achieve emotional and mental stability.
Denton shows us the tensions in the austere home of the Reverend Bronte, the hopes for and disappointment in his drunken son, Branwell, and the longings of the three sisters for a more fulfilling life. The sisters' books are populated with people who live large lives, with secret loves, deception, greed, passion, and loyalty. In this setting, quiet Anne makes her own way, exploring human relationships with a keen sense of morality and ethics. As a governess she has to be with people all day, at their beck and call, and can barely aspire to more. But as a true Bronte, she does aspire.
Denton builds the story of Anne's young life gradually, taking us through her thoughts and experiences as she matures. The tempo steps up with the three sisters together again at Haworth, after having been separated for a few years. Charlotte has an idea for a book of poetry featuring all of them. Emily balks, and Anne mediates between the two, securing Emily's participation. I found this one of the most fascinating parts of the book. The dynamics among these three gifted women sizzles on the page. Descriptions of Charlotte and Emily are haunting in their excellence. Each woman changed literature and the way in which women were viewed in society. Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall has been called one of the first feminist novels.
Anne faces reality with determination. She has come to believe she was meant to be "an observer, and given a quiet skill to extract lessons from what she saw. There was truth to be told, warnings to be issued, patience and prudence to instill in young women." She depicted people and society with realism, not romanticism. This book made me wonder what Anne Bronte's influence would have been had she lived to reach full maturity.
In Without The Veil Between, Denton's writing has reached its maturity as well. Whole passages are beautifully written: meticulous, poetic, luminous, and powerful. The ending, echoing the title, is especially brilliant. I can't think of anyone better suited to bring us into the world and the life of the sensitive, creative, and quietly courageous Anne Bronte.
Early in Diane Denton's book the young curate, William Weightman, says to Anne Bronte: "You must find such satisfaction in being able to capture those moments the rest of us let slip away and sometimes aren't aware of to begin with." This is an essential part of Denton's own gift. With this ability she is able to enter the world of a shy artist who lived in the shadows of her father, brother, and sisters, and in the light of a determined and insightful intellect. Anne Bronte set herself a more difficult task than her famous sisters, Charlotte and Emily. She was on a course of an artist whose subject was her life. Making this even more difficult, she sought to achieve emotional and mental stability.
Denton shows us the tensions in the austere home of the Reverend Bronte, the hopes for and disappointment in his drunken son, Branwell, and the longings of the three sisters for a more fulfilling life. The sisters' books are populated with people who live large lives, with secret loves, deception, greed, passion, and loyalty. In this setting, quiet Anne makes her own way, exploring human relationships with a keen sense of morality and ethics. As a governess she has to be with people all day, at their beck and call, and can barely aspire to more. But as a true Bronte, she does aspire.
Denton builds the story of Anne's young life gradually, taking us through her thoughts and experiences as she matures. The tempo steps up with the three sisters together again at Haworth, after having been separated for a few years. Charlotte has an idea for a book of poetry featuring all of them. Emily balks, and Anne mediates between the two, securing Emily's participation. I found this one of the most fascinating parts of the book. The dynamics among these three gifted women sizzles on the page. Descriptions of Charlotte and Emily are haunting in their excellence. Each woman changed literature and the way in which women were viewed in society. Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall has been called one of the first feminist novels.
Anne faces reality with determination. She has come to believe she was meant to be "an observer, and given a quiet skill to extract lessons from what she saw. There was truth to be told, warnings to be issued, patience and prudence to instill in young women." She depicted people and society with realism, not romanticism. This book made me wonder what Anne Bronte's influence would have been had she lived to reach full maturity.
In Without The Veil Between, Denton's writing has reached its maturity as well. Whole passages are beautifully written: meticulous, poetic, luminous, and powerful. The ending, echoing the title, is especially brilliant. I can't think of anyone better suited to bring us into the world and the life of the sensitive, creative, and quietly courageous Anne Bronte.
November 30, 2017 Deborah Bennison, Bennison Books
Without the Veil Between catches both the triumph and the tragedy of Anne’s short but quietly courageous and determined life. Her disappointments and heartbreak patiently borne; her originality of thought in opposition to contemporary mores; her searing and unflinching insights into the experiences of women and the need for resistance and positive action that we now call feminism.
This is no cosy account of three sisters living in harmony in their parsonage home while happily creating their masterpieces for posterity. DM Denton convincingly explores the tensions that existed between the sisters as well as their mutual love and support; and the security and emotional comfort Anne found within her family juxtaposed with the need to separate herself in some way. This is perfectly captured in the author’s precise description of both Charlotte and Anne being “torn between the calling to leave and the longing to stay”. Here, also, we see the author’s careful and measured examination of the different personalities at work within the Brontë family: Charlotte is driven to venture out more by “curiosity and enterprise”, while Anne’s purpose is a serious and morally driven desire to develop character and endurance, and demonstrate what she is capable of. And, indeed, it is she of all the sisters who does endure for longest in the world of work: five years as a governess before she resigned, probably due to the ignominy of her brother Branwell’s disastrous liaison with her pupils’ mother.
DM Denton skillfully captures Anne’s distinctive personality and strength of character while poignantly contrasting this with her frail constitution, blighted by asthma and then the tuberculosis that killed her at such a young age. The final pages of the book leading to Anne’s inevitable demise are written with a simplicity and restraint that is intensely moving and wholly convincing.
Above all, DM Denton reveals the Anne that Charlotte could not – or would not – see. This book gives us Anne. Not Anne, the ‘less gifted’ sister of Charlotte and Emily (although we meet them too as convincingly drawn individuals); nor the Anne who ‘also wrote two novels’, but Anne herself, courageous, committed, daring and fiercely individual: a writer of remarkable insight, prescience and moral courage whose work can still astonish us today.
Without the Veil Between catches both the triumph and the tragedy of Anne’s short but quietly courageous and determined life. Her disappointments and heartbreak patiently borne; her originality of thought in opposition to contemporary mores; her searing and unflinching insights into the experiences of women and the need for resistance and positive action that we now call feminism.
This is no cosy account of three sisters living in harmony in their parsonage home while happily creating their masterpieces for posterity. DM Denton convincingly explores the tensions that existed between the sisters as well as their mutual love and support; and the security and emotional comfort Anne found within her family juxtaposed with the need to separate herself in some way. This is perfectly captured in the author’s precise description of both Charlotte and Anne being “torn between the calling to leave and the longing to stay”. Here, also, we see the author’s careful and measured examination of the different personalities at work within the Brontë family: Charlotte is driven to venture out more by “curiosity and enterprise”, while Anne’s purpose is a serious and morally driven desire to develop character and endurance, and demonstrate what she is capable of. And, indeed, it is she of all the sisters who does endure for longest in the world of work: five years as a governess before she resigned, probably due to the ignominy of her brother Branwell’s disastrous liaison with her pupils’ mother.
DM Denton skillfully captures Anne’s distinctive personality and strength of character while poignantly contrasting this with her frail constitution, blighted by asthma and then the tuberculosis that killed her at such a young age. The final pages of the book leading to Anne’s inevitable demise are written with a simplicity and restraint that is intensely moving and wholly convincing.
Above all, DM Denton reveals the Anne that Charlotte could not – or would not – see. This book gives us Anne. Not Anne, the ‘less gifted’ sister of Charlotte and Emily (although we meet them too as convincingly drawn individuals); nor the Anne who ‘also wrote two novels’, but Anne herself, courageous, committed, daring and fiercely individual: a writer of remarkable insight, prescience and moral courage whose work can still astonish us today.
Praise for A House Near Luccoli
More reviews at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and on Goodreads
30, 2017, Margaret Panofsky, director of The Teares of the Muses (New York University Collegium Musicum Viol Consort) and author of The Last Shade Tree
In “A House Near Luccoli,” DM Denton successfully blends the lives of a fictional female character with an existing historical figure to create a tale that is both believable and moving. The 17th-century Italian composer Alessandro Stradella is well enough known to those of us in the early-music field, although his works are under-appreciated today. However, in the Wikipedia article’s words, “He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.” When the story begins, Stradella has already committed a serious crime, bedded too many women, fled several cities in disgrace, and survived a near-fatal attack. He has also written quantities of amazing music, much of it sacred. Donatella, the fictional character, is hardly his type. And yet, a most unusual relationship, largely built on mutual respect, slowly evolves.
Denton demonstrates the depth of her research and her immersion in the period by depicting in detail a 17th-century household’s furnishings and daily rituals. The thoroughness of the description is especially appropriate since the no-longer-young Donatella is a virtual prisoner inside her own house. We can visualize the furniture, the food consumed, and the scrubbing, dusting, and scouring that go on in the dark, slightly musty and scruffy rooms off the staircase and hallways. We see the practical kitchen, and even a small walled garden, scented by citrus trees.
Denton’s subtle rendering of the “pecking order” in a class-conscious society is quite stunning, from the lowest of the servants, to fish sellers, to Donatella herself, to Stradella and the musicians he directs, and upward to the top-tier nobility. Of course, dominating each social class from low to high is the inevitably superior male. The members of these separate classes often rub shoulders, although they usually remain mindful of their pre-ordained positions in life.
Now we come to the crux of why Donatella’s character is so interesting, and from the outset, we are spared the typical feminist-heroine of historical fiction, annoyingly spunky and incongruously stuck in a period costume. True to her century, Donatella is not in an upwardly mobile social position, to say the least. She is not particularly beautiful, or, at her age, marriageable. She is not wealthy or a noblewoman. Rather, she is in stasis, genteelly trapped, living under the thumb of an authoritarian aunt while caring for her aged grandmother, her cats, and a scrappy household. When Stradella appears on the scene, she begins to use talents she hardly knew she had, and without guile or flirtatiousness, she fascinates the libertine composer through her goodness and honesty. In spite of his bad-boy reputation, Stradella treats this modest woman, a hidden romantic, with unusual deference.
The long sentences made up of multiple clauses separated by many commas bothered me at first, and occasionally I had to reread them to grasp the content. But after a while, I fell under the spell of Denton’s unique style. The overall effect is gauzy, like peering into another era obscured by the haze of centuries. But upon closer examination, I sensed steely precision. These sentences and paragraphs are a paean to Italian baroque architecture—outwardly flamboyant, but powerfully robust, the clauses curling back upon themselves. Her collage-like cover illustrations also embody the delicacy and strength of the novel.
Read review on amazon.com
In “A House Near Luccoli,” DM Denton successfully blends the lives of a fictional female character with an existing historical figure to create a tale that is both believable and moving. The 17th-century Italian composer Alessandro Stradella is well enough known to those of us in the early-music field, although his works are under-appreciated today. However, in the Wikipedia article’s words, “He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.” When the story begins, Stradella has already committed a serious crime, bedded too many women, fled several cities in disgrace, and survived a near-fatal attack. He has also written quantities of amazing music, much of it sacred. Donatella, the fictional character, is hardly his type. And yet, a most unusual relationship, largely built on mutual respect, slowly evolves.
Denton demonstrates the depth of her research and her immersion in the period by depicting in detail a 17th-century household’s furnishings and daily rituals. The thoroughness of the description is especially appropriate since the no-longer-young Donatella is a virtual prisoner inside her own house. We can visualize the furniture, the food consumed, and the scrubbing, dusting, and scouring that go on in the dark, slightly musty and scruffy rooms off the staircase and hallways. We see the practical kitchen, and even a small walled garden, scented by citrus trees.
Denton’s subtle rendering of the “pecking order” in a class-conscious society is quite stunning, from the lowest of the servants, to fish sellers, to Donatella herself, to Stradella and the musicians he directs, and upward to the top-tier nobility. Of course, dominating each social class from low to high is the inevitably superior male. The members of these separate classes often rub shoulders, although they usually remain mindful of their pre-ordained positions in life.
Now we come to the crux of why Donatella’s character is so interesting, and from the outset, we are spared the typical feminist-heroine of historical fiction, annoyingly spunky and incongruously stuck in a period costume. True to her century, Donatella is not in an upwardly mobile social position, to say the least. She is not particularly beautiful, or, at her age, marriageable. She is not wealthy or a noblewoman. Rather, she is in stasis, genteelly trapped, living under the thumb of an authoritarian aunt while caring for her aged grandmother, her cats, and a scrappy household. When Stradella appears on the scene, she begins to use talents she hardly knew she had, and without guile or flirtatiousness, she fascinates the libertine composer through her goodness and honesty. In spite of his bad-boy reputation, Stradella treats this modest woman, a hidden romantic, with unusual deference.
The long sentences made up of multiple clauses separated by many commas bothered me at first, and occasionally I had to reread them to grasp the content. But after a while, I fell under the spell of Denton’s unique style. The overall effect is gauzy, like peering into another era obscured by the haze of centuries. But upon closer examination, I sensed steely precision. These sentences and paragraphs are a paean to Italian baroque architecture—outwardly flamboyant, but powerfully robust, the clauses curling back upon themselves. Her collage-like cover illustrations also embody the delicacy and strength of the novel.
Read review on amazon.com
May 10, 2016, Christoph Fischer Books
A most beautiful and engaging novel about Baroque musician Alessandro Stradella. Mixing fact with fictional elements we get to witness this colourful and fascinating subject in his professional and private life.
The flow of the writing is smooth and pulled me in from the first chapter - something that few historical novels master. The prose is wonderful and the pace just perfect.
There is a great story to tell about this man and the music world of the 17th Century. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed this novel, being not that familiar with the Italian Baroque 'scene'. The author has done immaculate research and fills the pages with great details without overloading it.
Donatella, the other main character of the book, is equally well drawn and interesting. This is a real pleasure to read, all the more when you read the notes about the man and the author at the end of the book.
A real find that I would like to recommend highly to other readers of historical fiction.
Read review on Goodreads
A most beautiful and engaging novel about Baroque musician Alessandro Stradella. Mixing fact with fictional elements we get to witness this colourful and fascinating subject in his professional and private life.
The flow of the writing is smooth and pulled me in from the first chapter - something that few historical novels master. The prose is wonderful and the pace just perfect.
There is a great story to tell about this man and the music world of the 17th Century. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed this novel, being not that familiar with the Italian Baroque 'scene'. The author has done immaculate research and fills the pages with great details without overloading it.
Donatella, the other main character of the book, is equally well drawn and interesting. This is a real pleasure to read, all the more when you read the notes about the man and the author at the end of the book.
A real find that I would like to recommend highly to other readers of historical fiction.
Read review on Goodreads
Reviewed by The Historical Novel Society
The remarkable Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella stands at the center of Denton’s bright, sparkling novel A House Near Luccoli. Unmarried, mid-thirties Genoan woman Donatella encounters the volatile, slightly disreputable genius and at first is appalled by his manners and eccentric ways, but she and others are also gradually taken by his undeniable charm.
Denton is an unapologetically enthusiastic writer, imbuing even her minor secondary characters with three-dimensional life. Her research into all aspects of the period is thorough but not wooden; this is foremost a book of characters and character-study, ultimately in many ways a book about how friendships form. Stradella’s life came to a very abrupt end, and this book does too, a bit – but it’s all immensely enjoyable just the same. Highly recommended.
Read review at historicalnovelsociety.org
Denton is an unapologetically enthusiastic writer, imbuing even her minor secondary characters with three-dimensional life. Her research into all aspects of the period is thorough but not wooden; this is foremost a book of characters and character-study, ultimately in many ways a book about how friendships form. Stradella’s life came to a very abrupt end, and this book does too, a bit – but it’s all immensely enjoyable just the same. Highly recommended.
Read review at historicalnovelsociety.org
August 17, 2014, Laurel Oettle
I have a deep appreciation for things that appeal to my sense of beauty. While I enjoy many novels for a multitude of varying reasons, from their excellent characterization to their capacity to make me see the world in new ways, teach me new things or simply engage my rapt attention, there are only a few that have captured me with their lyricism and beauty. The historic novel A House Near Luccoli by DM Denton flows with a rhythm and melody that took me some time to adjust to – her sophisticated style took a little time to attune to, and I initially found myself re-reading paragraphs to ensure I was completely clear on what was happening. However, once I let go of my structured expectations and instead listened to the unique flow of the novel, I found myself captivated, and transported back to 17th century Italy.
It’s such a unique and poetic style, that I feel as though I can hardly do it justice, and wish instead to share a couple of extracts:
Through years of following her wonderful blog, I have been fortunate enough to get to know Diane as a creative artist and poet. It was an entirely new joy to get to know her as a highly skilled historical novelist, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to meeting her nuanced and captivating protagonist, Donatella, once again in the upcoming sequel, To A Strange Somewhere Fled.
Read on Laurel's blog ...
I have a deep appreciation for things that appeal to my sense of beauty. While I enjoy many novels for a multitude of varying reasons, from their excellent characterization to their capacity to make me see the world in new ways, teach me new things or simply engage my rapt attention, there are only a few that have captured me with their lyricism and beauty. The historic novel A House Near Luccoli by DM Denton flows with a rhythm and melody that took me some time to adjust to – her sophisticated style took a little time to attune to, and I initially found myself re-reading paragraphs to ensure I was completely clear on what was happening. However, once I let go of my structured expectations and instead listened to the unique flow of the novel, I found myself captivated, and transported back to 17th century Italy.
It’s such a unique and poetic style, that I feel as though I can hardly do it justice, and wish instead to share a couple of extracts:
Through years of following her wonderful blog, I have been fortunate enough to get to know Diane as a creative artist and poet. It was an entirely new joy to get to know her as a highly skilled historical novelist, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to meeting her nuanced and captivating protagonist, Donatella, once again in the upcoming sequel, To A Strange Somewhere Fled.
Read on Laurel's blog ...
November 16, 2013, Mary Clark, author of Tally: An Intuitive Life
Without risk there is no art
The author’s style takes the conventional and then begins the deconstruction, the rearrangements, to bring us into the reality of Alessandro Stradella, a gifted Baroque composer and musician. This deconstruction and rearranging is what an artist does. Rather than imitate reality, he selects what is important to him, and abstracts what is essential to achieve a new reality. People, relationships, emotions and ideas are put through this process of reordering. The artist abstracts what is vital and compelling, and releases it as a living thing.
From the moment of inspiration until the intuitive flow has ceased, expression is more important than communication. For this reason, an artist often is not very good at personal relationships. So it is with Alessandro Stradella.
The book explores the ways in which passion can order and disorder an artist’s creativity, and drive even a repressed and unadventurous person to experiment. Stradella's behavior is a form of rebellion against the power that the elite have over artists in his day. His music is filled with pure notes, a sharp contrast to a corrupt world that tempts him.
When he deconstructs one of the powerful, his risky behavior is a direct threat, not a concerto that can be interpreted and dismissed with a smile. Rearranging and abstracting, done clumsily, appear to be a form of imitation known as mockery. Stradella takes this beyond the stage and written page and pays a heavy price.
Without risk there is no art, only craftsmanship. There are beautiful sentences in this book that would not have been possible without the experimentation that preceded them. A House Near Luccoli tears away at the borders of convention, just as Stradella did in his life.
It may be irrelevant to think in terms of success and failure when it comes to any artistic endeavor, since all efforts contribute to the artist’s journey, and there is always difference of opinion on what has succeeded and what has not. But there are times when the artist and the audience know the effort has not reached the desire outcome, when the intuition has moved in another direction and the work continued at a less inspired and more conceptualized level. In this book, Denton has often remained true to her intuition. Some sentences soar, while many loop out into variations on a theme, as music does, with results that are satisfying, or disconcerting, and oddly, often both. This baroque writing style adeptly embodies the times and the musician/composer who inhabits the story.
Read on amazon.com
Without risk there is no art
The author’s style takes the conventional and then begins the deconstruction, the rearrangements, to bring us into the reality of Alessandro Stradella, a gifted Baroque composer and musician. This deconstruction and rearranging is what an artist does. Rather than imitate reality, he selects what is important to him, and abstracts what is essential to achieve a new reality. People, relationships, emotions and ideas are put through this process of reordering. The artist abstracts what is vital and compelling, and releases it as a living thing.
From the moment of inspiration until the intuitive flow has ceased, expression is more important than communication. For this reason, an artist often is not very good at personal relationships. So it is with Alessandro Stradella.
The book explores the ways in which passion can order and disorder an artist’s creativity, and drive even a repressed and unadventurous person to experiment. Stradella's behavior is a form of rebellion against the power that the elite have over artists in his day. His music is filled with pure notes, a sharp contrast to a corrupt world that tempts him.
When he deconstructs one of the powerful, his risky behavior is a direct threat, not a concerto that can be interpreted and dismissed with a smile. Rearranging and abstracting, done clumsily, appear to be a form of imitation known as mockery. Stradella takes this beyond the stage and written page and pays a heavy price.
Without risk there is no art, only craftsmanship. There are beautiful sentences in this book that would not have been possible without the experimentation that preceded them. A House Near Luccoli tears away at the borders of convention, just as Stradella did in his life.
It may be irrelevant to think in terms of success and failure when it comes to any artistic endeavor, since all efforts contribute to the artist’s journey, and there is always difference of opinion on what has succeeded and what has not. But there are times when the artist and the audience know the effort has not reached the desire outcome, when the intuition has moved in another direction and the work continued at a less inspired and more conceptualized level. In this book, Denton has often remained true to her intuition. Some sentences soar, while many loop out into variations on a theme, as music does, with results that are satisfying, or disconcerting, and oddly, often both. This baroque writing style adeptly embodies the times and the musician/composer who inhabits the story.
Read on amazon.com
December 29, 2012, Steve Lindahl, author of Motherless Child, White Horse Regressions, and Hopatcong Vision Quest
Beautiful and fascinating historical fiction
Classical musicians were the rock stars of the seventeenth century, especially in places like Genoa, Italy. A House Near Luccoli takes an interesting approach to one of those stars, Alessandro Stradella, a composer who was famous during his life but whose fame has faded compared to contemporaries such as Vivaldi and Handel. The book's narrator is Donatella, a young woman who has the good fortune to live with her aunt and ailing grandmother in a house owned by Signor Garibaldi, the prince of Genoa. The prince offers an area of the house to Stradella as a place to stay and work while he's in Genoa. The novel is told from Donatella's point of view. If the plot was set in the twentieth century, A House Near Luccoli would have been Patty Boyd's story rather than George Harrison's or Eric Clapton's.
In keeping with its period, A House Near Luccoli reads more like a symphony than a rock song. It is separated into parts that are like movements of the larger work. The language is not simple, making it the type of book I like to read slowly. There is so much in every phrase and I found I was often flipping back to let the meaning of Denton's words sink in.
A House Near Luccoli mixes fictional with historical characters. It was fun to use Wikipedia to learn more about Stradella as I read the novel and Youtube to hear performances of his music. I recommend this book for readers who enjoy historical fiction with beautiful language.
Read review on amazon.com
Beautiful and fascinating historical fiction
Classical musicians were the rock stars of the seventeenth century, especially in places like Genoa, Italy. A House Near Luccoli takes an interesting approach to one of those stars, Alessandro Stradella, a composer who was famous during his life but whose fame has faded compared to contemporaries such as Vivaldi and Handel. The book's narrator is Donatella, a young woman who has the good fortune to live with her aunt and ailing grandmother in a house owned by Signor Garibaldi, the prince of Genoa. The prince offers an area of the house to Stradella as a place to stay and work while he's in Genoa. The novel is told from Donatella's point of view. If the plot was set in the twentieth century, A House Near Luccoli would have been Patty Boyd's story rather than George Harrison's or Eric Clapton's.
In keeping with its period, A House Near Luccoli reads more like a symphony than a rock song. It is separated into parts that are like movements of the larger work. The language is not simple, making it the type of book I like to read slowly. There is so much in every phrase and I found I was often flipping back to let the meaning of Denton's words sink in.
A House Near Luccoli mixes fictional with historical characters. It was fun to use Wikipedia to learn more about Stradella as I read the novel and Youtube to hear performances of his music. I recommend this book for readers who enjoy historical fiction with beautiful language.
Read review on amazon.com
December 7, 2012, Casee Marie Clow, Literary Inklings
Compelling, stimulating, and studiously researched
Alessandro Stradella was a legend in his time, a celebrated composer who took Italy in the 17th century by storm; wrestled from fame to infamy, Stradella received accolades and evictions alike, finally coming to Genoa after being sent from Rome, Turin, and Venice. Despite his scandals, his seductive genius for Baroque music and his overwhelming charm reserved for him a place of esteem within the nobility of Genoa. In D.M. Denton's languid new novel, A House Near Luccoli, the author examines the famed composer's time in Genoa through the lens of fiction, centering her story on the house near Luccoli Street where Stradella rented an apartment and filling it with her own brand of characters. Among them is the novel's protagonist, Donatella. Plain and a confirmed spinster, Donatella resides in and tends to the house near Luccoli along with her ailing grandmother and domineering aunt. When Stradella sweeps into the quiet house Donatella becomes enraptured with the world he offers, so much different than the life she planned to live with her bloom fading before even having the chance to fully blossom. After beginning work for Stradella as a copyist, his passionate realm of intrigue and music, artists and royalty, envelops Donatella's curiosity just as she begins to lose herself to the beguiling and reckless composer. But as her longings war with her own simple reality, she must find strength within to keep from being trampled among Stradella's many admirers and his own larger-than-life persona.
A House Near Luccoli is as charmingly crafted as Stradella's compositions, often mirroring their power, beauty, and delicate intricacy. It's a novel at once intimate and expansive, quickly ushering the reader into the vivid 17th century world of Stradella and exposing the history of a lesser-known genius while enfolding them in a fictitious story of romance, friendship, art, and intrigue. Denton's narrative is complex and challenging, steeped in a richness that befits the grandeur of the time period. Her use of language and her inventive storytelling captured me from the first page; some passages of dialogue felt more abstractly constructed than others, lending me the enchanting image of an artist's story being told through an equally artistic medium. I enjoyed the freedom she displayed in writing. Her depiction of Stradella presented an absorbing study of a truly fascinating man, and left my interest piqued to discover more about himself and his music. In Donatella I found a protagonist I was keenly drawn to. She is perhaps a daring choice for a heroine, at times appearing melancholy in her situation at the house in Genoa, but I felt an understanding with Donatella, a timid woman with an artist's fiery spirit inside, who has somehow managed to lose her life to her own daydreams. Her interests have captivated her while her longings have been left dormant, only to be brought to surprising life by Stradella and all his colorful, vibrant artistry. The relationship forged between the duo, sometimes a friendship, sometimes a romance, sometimes a turbulent bundle of unknown feelings, is one I was loathe to let go of at the book's final pages.
Additional characters are ever on hand through Denton's story to create more intrigues and offer new dramatic surprises. It culminated into an ending that held me in rapt attention and made me want to immerse myself in the book all over again. Compelling, stimulating, and studiously researched, A House Near Luccoli is a beautiful representation of the boundlessness of historical fiction, and a story as sumptuous and engaging as the man at its center.
Read on amazon.com
Compelling, stimulating, and studiously researched
Alessandro Stradella was a legend in his time, a celebrated composer who took Italy in the 17th century by storm; wrestled from fame to infamy, Stradella received accolades and evictions alike, finally coming to Genoa after being sent from Rome, Turin, and Venice. Despite his scandals, his seductive genius for Baroque music and his overwhelming charm reserved for him a place of esteem within the nobility of Genoa. In D.M. Denton's languid new novel, A House Near Luccoli, the author examines the famed composer's time in Genoa through the lens of fiction, centering her story on the house near Luccoli Street where Stradella rented an apartment and filling it with her own brand of characters. Among them is the novel's protagonist, Donatella. Plain and a confirmed spinster, Donatella resides in and tends to the house near Luccoli along with her ailing grandmother and domineering aunt. When Stradella sweeps into the quiet house Donatella becomes enraptured with the world he offers, so much different than the life she planned to live with her bloom fading before even having the chance to fully blossom. After beginning work for Stradella as a copyist, his passionate realm of intrigue and music, artists and royalty, envelops Donatella's curiosity just as she begins to lose herself to the beguiling and reckless composer. But as her longings war with her own simple reality, she must find strength within to keep from being trampled among Stradella's many admirers and his own larger-than-life persona.
A House Near Luccoli is as charmingly crafted as Stradella's compositions, often mirroring their power, beauty, and delicate intricacy. It's a novel at once intimate and expansive, quickly ushering the reader into the vivid 17th century world of Stradella and exposing the history of a lesser-known genius while enfolding them in a fictitious story of romance, friendship, art, and intrigue. Denton's narrative is complex and challenging, steeped in a richness that befits the grandeur of the time period. Her use of language and her inventive storytelling captured me from the first page; some passages of dialogue felt more abstractly constructed than others, lending me the enchanting image of an artist's story being told through an equally artistic medium. I enjoyed the freedom she displayed in writing. Her depiction of Stradella presented an absorbing study of a truly fascinating man, and left my interest piqued to discover more about himself and his music. In Donatella I found a protagonist I was keenly drawn to. She is perhaps a daring choice for a heroine, at times appearing melancholy in her situation at the house in Genoa, but I felt an understanding with Donatella, a timid woman with an artist's fiery spirit inside, who has somehow managed to lose her life to her own daydreams. Her interests have captivated her while her longings have been left dormant, only to be brought to surprising life by Stradella and all his colorful, vibrant artistry. The relationship forged between the duo, sometimes a friendship, sometimes a romance, sometimes a turbulent bundle of unknown feelings, is one I was loathe to let go of at the book's final pages.
Additional characters are ever on hand through Denton's story to create more intrigues and offer new dramatic surprises. It culminated into an ending that held me in rapt attention and made me want to immerse myself in the book all over again. Compelling, stimulating, and studiously researched, A House Near Luccoli is a beautiful representation of the boundlessness of historical fiction, and a story as sumptuous and engaging as the man at its center.
Read on amazon.com
September 7, 2012, D. Bennison of Bennison Books
A beautifully written historical novel
From the opening lines, this beautifully written historical novel effortlessly transports the reader into the very real world of the `forgotten' 17th century composer, Stradella, and his relationship with the vividly imagined fictional protagonist, Donatella.
In turns moving and exhilarating, sad and joyous, the author moves dexterously from scene to scene: from exquisitely rendered intimate and searching conversations between Stradella and Donatella to the pace and excitement of the final scenes at the Carnevale, leading to a dénouement that is both an ending and a beginning. The novel has no longueurs or loss of pace; its skilfully constructed momentum makes for a compelling read.
Accurately rendered historical details (the novelist's light touch belies the in-depth research that she must have undertaken) and convincing characterisation and plot development lie at the heart of this fascinating and rewarding novel. And as with any skilled writer and artist, the author provides insights not only into a long-neglected musician and the specific time in which he lived, but also addresses questions that are as relevant today: what it is to be gifted and what it is to be ordinary, and the hopes, disappointments, griefs, yearnings and joys that are the markers of what it is to be human.
Read on amazon.com
A beautifully written historical novel
From the opening lines, this beautifully written historical novel effortlessly transports the reader into the very real world of the `forgotten' 17th century composer, Stradella, and his relationship with the vividly imagined fictional protagonist, Donatella.
In turns moving and exhilarating, sad and joyous, the author moves dexterously from scene to scene: from exquisitely rendered intimate and searching conversations between Stradella and Donatella to the pace and excitement of the final scenes at the Carnevale, leading to a dénouement that is both an ending and a beginning. The novel has no longueurs or loss of pace; its skilfully constructed momentum makes for a compelling read.
Accurately rendered historical details (the novelist's light touch belies the in-depth research that she must have undertaken) and convincing characterisation and plot development lie at the heart of this fascinating and rewarding novel. And as with any skilled writer and artist, the author provides insights not only into a long-neglected musician and the specific time in which he lived, but also addresses questions that are as relevant today: what it is to be gifted and what it is to be ordinary, and the hopes, disappointments, griefs, yearnings and joys that are the markers of what it is to be human.
Read on amazon.com
Praise for To A Strange Somewhere Fled
Read more reviews at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and at Goodreads
Reviewed by The Historical Novel Society
Appeared in the August 2015 print issue of the Historical Novel Review!Oxfordshire, England, 1682: Donatella journeys from Genoa to a small English village, joining her Italian mother and English sea captain father in a strange land. Donatella’s move is predicated by the death of composer Alessandro Stradella; their relationship was detailed in Denton’s previous novel, A House Near Luccoli. In this second book, Donatella mourns her loss, while beginning to accustom herself to this new world. Her struggles with the English language mirror her struggles to adapt to her new life while still grieving her old one. She meets Roger North, a complex and fascinating neighbor, as well as Henry Purcell and others, while she slowly finds her footing.
Music and passionate lyricism inform this book. Denton’s style of writing is poetic and musical itself, perhaps at times challenging to readers used to a more straightforward narrative; the book lingers in the mind like some elusive and beautiful tune heard through open windows on a summer’s day. At times I felt the story might have been easier to follow had I read the earlier volume, but eventually things became clear.
Denton has done a great deal of research, and the book includes many real characters—Henry Purcell, Roger North and his brother Sir Francis, and Celia Fiennes, the “fine lady upon a white horse” of nursery rhyme fame. Denton’s deep understanding and love for the music and musicians of this era are evident on every page and transport the reader. Lovers of poetry and music will enjoy this excursion to Baroque England, as I did.
Read on historicalnovelsociety.org
Appeared in the August 2015 print issue of the Historical Novel Review!Oxfordshire, England, 1682: Donatella journeys from Genoa to a small English village, joining her Italian mother and English sea captain father in a strange land. Donatella’s move is predicated by the death of composer Alessandro Stradella; their relationship was detailed in Denton’s previous novel, A House Near Luccoli. In this second book, Donatella mourns her loss, while beginning to accustom herself to this new world. Her struggles with the English language mirror her struggles to adapt to her new life while still grieving her old one. She meets Roger North, a complex and fascinating neighbor, as well as Henry Purcell and others, while she slowly finds her footing.
Music and passionate lyricism inform this book. Denton’s style of writing is poetic and musical itself, perhaps at times challenging to readers used to a more straightforward narrative; the book lingers in the mind like some elusive and beautiful tune heard through open windows on a summer’s day. At times I felt the story might have been easier to follow had I read the earlier volume, but eventually things became clear.
Denton has done a great deal of research, and the book includes many real characters—Henry Purcell, Roger North and his brother Sir Francis, and Celia Fiennes, the “fine lady upon a white horse” of nursery rhyme fame. Denton’s deep understanding and love for the music and musicians of this era are evident on every page and transport the reader. Lovers of poetry and music will enjoy this excursion to Baroque England, as I did.
Read on historicalnovelsociety.org
November 6, 2015, Jean Rodenbough, author of Rachel's Children, Surviving the Second World War, and Bebe and Friends
This is a sequel to her first book, A House Near Luccoli. A well-researched history of the 17th century music loved by the Italians in Genoa, and now in England, where well-known musicians such as Henry Purcell and other notables are popular. What I found most valuable in these two books were the exceptional scenes with composers and performers of the day, described in details that keep the reader deeply involved in that age. The author's knowledge of period music and her gift of bringing dialogue alive demonstrate her writing skills. The characters come alive from her writing so that we are carried centuries into the past and discover it to be as vital now as it was then in the ways of music.
Read review on amazon.com
This is a sequel to her first book, A House Near Luccoli. A well-researched history of the 17th century music loved by the Italians in Genoa, and now in England, where well-known musicians such as Henry Purcell and other notables are popular. What I found most valuable in these two books were the exceptional scenes with composers and performers of the day, described in details that keep the reader deeply involved in that age. The author's knowledge of period music and her gift of bringing dialogue alive demonstrate her writing skills. The characters come alive from her writing so that we are carried centuries into the past and discover it to be as vital now as it was then in the ways of music.
Read review on amazon.com
May 29, 2015, Casee Marie Clow, Literary Inklings
An enchanting story told through smart, musical prose
In her follow-up to A House Near Luccoli author D.M. Denton takes readers back to 17th century Europe, moving the story of impassioned young spinster Donatella from Stradella’s Genoa to the England of Henry Purcell.
One instantly remarkable element of D.M. Denton’s fiction is her unique blending of history and fiction; such was the backdrop for her 2012 novel, A House Near Luccoli, which introduced a memorable fictional protagonist – Donatella – to one of Italy’s most enigmatic composers, the roguish Alessandro Stradella. This strength of Denton’s is played upon in Luccoli’s sequel novel, To a Strange Somewhere Fled, which finds a heartbroken Donatella amid a cast of decidedly English characters plucked with utmost authenticity from the resonance of history. After tragedy struck in Genoa, Donatella joins her family in her father’s native England, trading the majesty of the Mediterranean for the unruly weather and unusual society of Oxfordshire. Despondent and bereft, Donatella suffers renewed sadness as she comes to terms with her new life as a foreigner in a strange land, struggling to replace her native Italian with the confusing language of the English and ultimately learning to adapt to their ways.
Even as Donatella is haunted by the memory of Stradella – whose charming and often mischievous presence seems to have followed her, along with several never-performed copies of his compositions, to England – the determined heroine, expecting to resign herself once more to spinsterhood, finds unexpected emotions and, gradually, a new adventure awaiting her. From neighbors charming and catastrophic to an invasion of Italian musical greats, and even an appearance by the celebrated Henry Purcell, Donatella is soon buoyed between her own grief and the alluring, irrepressible pull of creativity. Almost all of the immediate characters in the story, with the exception of Donatella’s family and one or two others, are rooted in history, and the author shares her insights with the reader in a well-organized collection of historical notes at the back of the book. With this novel, Denton takes her fusion of history and fiction into an even deeper territory, depicting not only composers of British and Italian nationality, but also female singers and even men of law, such as the story’s male protagonist, biographer and lawyer Roger North. With sublime grace and devotion, Denton marries the two worlds together to form a setting for her novel that’s nothing short of enchanting.
Keeping true to A House Near Luccoli, much of the foundation of this novel relies heavily on music as expression. The cadences and temperaments of compositions are reflected in Denton’s pacing as well as her confidently executed freedom of narrative: some scenes that would traditionally be laid out in show-stopping dramatics may happen quietly, maybe even outside of the narrative completely; revelations are made, characters introduced, and emotions uncovered with unexpected swells and surges of expression. As a result, Denton’s writing is as beautiful and complex as the music she effectively seeks to honor. And while Donatella and her story, full as it is of such a legion of colorful characters, are vastly entertaining in their own right, often Denton’s descriptions of musical performances manage to swoop in and lift the reader up to even greater heights. Her passionate research and personal love of the art both shine through in the remarkable imagery her prose evokes, enrapturing her audience and taking them just a bit deeper into the intricacies of the 17th century setting. Irrevocable in its magic and intrepid in its storytelling, To a Strange Somewhere Fled is an fascinating and delectably original work that readers won’t soon forget.
Read on amazon.com
An enchanting story told through smart, musical prose
In her follow-up to A House Near Luccoli author D.M. Denton takes readers back to 17th century Europe, moving the story of impassioned young spinster Donatella from Stradella’s Genoa to the England of Henry Purcell.
One instantly remarkable element of D.M. Denton’s fiction is her unique blending of history and fiction; such was the backdrop for her 2012 novel, A House Near Luccoli, which introduced a memorable fictional protagonist – Donatella – to one of Italy’s most enigmatic composers, the roguish Alessandro Stradella. This strength of Denton’s is played upon in Luccoli’s sequel novel, To a Strange Somewhere Fled, which finds a heartbroken Donatella amid a cast of decidedly English characters plucked with utmost authenticity from the resonance of history. After tragedy struck in Genoa, Donatella joins her family in her father’s native England, trading the majesty of the Mediterranean for the unruly weather and unusual society of Oxfordshire. Despondent and bereft, Donatella suffers renewed sadness as she comes to terms with her new life as a foreigner in a strange land, struggling to replace her native Italian with the confusing language of the English and ultimately learning to adapt to their ways.
Even as Donatella is haunted by the memory of Stradella – whose charming and often mischievous presence seems to have followed her, along with several never-performed copies of his compositions, to England – the determined heroine, expecting to resign herself once more to spinsterhood, finds unexpected emotions and, gradually, a new adventure awaiting her. From neighbors charming and catastrophic to an invasion of Italian musical greats, and even an appearance by the celebrated Henry Purcell, Donatella is soon buoyed between her own grief and the alluring, irrepressible pull of creativity. Almost all of the immediate characters in the story, with the exception of Donatella’s family and one or two others, are rooted in history, and the author shares her insights with the reader in a well-organized collection of historical notes at the back of the book. With this novel, Denton takes her fusion of history and fiction into an even deeper territory, depicting not only composers of British and Italian nationality, but also female singers and even men of law, such as the story’s male protagonist, biographer and lawyer Roger North. With sublime grace and devotion, Denton marries the two worlds together to form a setting for her novel that’s nothing short of enchanting.
Keeping true to A House Near Luccoli, much of the foundation of this novel relies heavily on music as expression. The cadences and temperaments of compositions are reflected in Denton’s pacing as well as her confidently executed freedom of narrative: some scenes that would traditionally be laid out in show-stopping dramatics may happen quietly, maybe even outside of the narrative completely; revelations are made, characters introduced, and emotions uncovered with unexpected swells and surges of expression. As a result, Denton’s writing is as beautiful and complex as the music she effectively seeks to honor. And while Donatella and her story, full as it is of such a legion of colorful characters, are vastly entertaining in their own right, often Denton’s descriptions of musical performances manage to swoop in and lift the reader up to even greater heights. Her passionate research and personal love of the art both shine through in the remarkable imagery her prose evokes, enrapturing her audience and taking them just a bit deeper into the intricacies of the 17th century setting. Irrevocable in its magic and intrepid in its storytelling, To a Strange Somewhere Fled is an fascinating and delectably original work that readers won’t soon forget.
Read on amazon.com
April 15, 2015, Christine Moran, Author of Dancing in the Rain
To A Strange Somewhere Fled is everything I expected and more. Diane writes with gentle passion as we follow Donatella in this sequel to A House Near Luccoli', where she leaves Genoa in Italy, to begin a new and very different life with her father, a retired sea captain, in Wroxton, Oxfordshire. We are introduced to new characters who are brought to life immediately by the intricacies of Diane's writing and we soon become fellow travellers on their journey. The paths we travel with them reflect life, love and loss all interwoven beautifully with the music of the 17th century. I feel I grew to know Donatella throughout both books and I will miss her!
Read on amazon.com
To A Strange Somewhere Fled is everything I expected and more. Diane writes with gentle passion as we follow Donatella in this sequel to A House Near Luccoli', where she leaves Genoa in Italy, to begin a new and very different life with her father, a retired sea captain, in Wroxton, Oxfordshire. We are introduced to new characters who are brought to life immediately by the intricacies of Diane's writing and we soon become fellow travellers on their journey. The paths we travel with them reflect life, love and loss all interwoven beautifully with the music of the 17th century. I feel I grew to know Donatella throughout both books and I will miss her!
Read on amazon.com
March 11, 2015, Mary Clark, author of Tally: An Intuitive Life and Miami Morning: A Leila Payson Novel
A Virtuoso Performance
In this tour-de-force book, D M Denton shows her command of a distinctive point of view and a writing style that enables her to communicate it. Her style breaks the rules, but it is just this breaking up and apart that reveals her character’s experiences in new and unexpected ways. It allows for flourishes, nuances, changes in pace, and variations on themes, as music does. With delicacy and sureness, the author works with her themes of memory, love, and loss. Grief and love vibrate throughout.
Donatella is a spinster, young, but not too young, who captures the wayward musician/composer Alessandro Stradella’s imagination, in A House Near Luccoli. In this sequel, Donatella has moved from her native Genoa to live with her father, now a retired sea captain, near the small town of Wroxton in the English countryside. She carries with her not only the memory of the extraordinary Stradella, who has been murdered, but some of his musical compositions as well. In this way she can keep a part of him with her, and protect his work from his enemies.
She is attuned to her rich interior life, as it is her most constant companion. This subliminal stream of images and thoughts, affords her a form of transcendence by overcoming time, as it links past, present and future.
Coming to a new and alien place, Donatella finds she has more freedom to explore the world. As she navigates the subtleties of unexpected relationships, she begins to open up, with the mature beauty of a late bloomer, made more enticing by her shyness and modesty. Her mother’s overt and indiscriminate sexual flirtations offer a sharp contrast to Donatella’s smoldering, deep-banked passion and careful sensuality. It is her virtue that attracts men. This is not the same as innocence; she is well aware of the human condition.
Donatella is intoxicated by her passion, which frightens her for what it might lead her to do. This is a story of a woman’s passion, whether it is the bliss of a walk in the woods, or the transporting joy of music, or the recognition of loving and being loved by another.
What an inspired and informed imagination to portray the young Henry Purcell. The composer is still finding his way, as are Donatella and another young man. Purcell appreciates the work of Stradella, and others who preceded him, even as he struggled to promote his own. The author’s descriptions of music, particular musicians, and musical performances make this book a work of art itself. To A Strange Somewhere Fled is a virtuoso performance.
Read on amazon.com
A Virtuoso Performance
In this tour-de-force book, D M Denton shows her command of a distinctive point of view and a writing style that enables her to communicate it. Her style breaks the rules, but it is just this breaking up and apart that reveals her character’s experiences in new and unexpected ways. It allows for flourishes, nuances, changes in pace, and variations on themes, as music does. With delicacy and sureness, the author works with her themes of memory, love, and loss. Grief and love vibrate throughout.
Donatella is a spinster, young, but not too young, who captures the wayward musician/composer Alessandro Stradella’s imagination, in A House Near Luccoli. In this sequel, Donatella has moved from her native Genoa to live with her father, now a retired sea captain, near the small town of Wroxton in the English countryside. She carries with her not only the memory of the extraordinary Stradella, who has been murdered, but some of his musical compositions as well. In this way she can keep a part of him with her, and protect his work from his enemies.
She is attuned to her rich interior life, as it is her most constant companion. This subliminal stream of images and thoughts, affords her a form of transcendence by overcoming time, as it links past, present and future.
Coming to a new and alien place, Donatella finds she has more freedom to explore the world. As she navigates the subtleties of unexpected relationships, she begins to open up, with the mature beauty of a late bloomer, made more enticing by her shyness and modesty. Her mother’s overt and indiscriminate sexual flirtations offer a sharp contrast to Donatella’s smoldering, deep-banked passion and careful sensuality. It is her virtue that attracts men. This is not the same as innocence; she is well aware of the human condition.
Donatella is intoxicated by her passion, which frightens her for what it might lead her to do. This is a story of a woman’s passion, whether it is the bliss of a walk in the woods, or the transporting joy of music, or the recognition of loving and being loved by another.
What an inspired and informed imagination to portray the young Henry Purcell. The composer is still finding his way, as are Donatella and another young man. Purcell appreciates the work of Stradella, and others who preceded him, even as he struggled to promote his own. The author’s descriptions of music, particular musicians, and musical performances make this book a work of art itself. To A Strange Somewhere Fled is a virtuoso performance.
Read on amazon.com
March 10, 2015, D. Bennison of Bennison Books
A beautifully realised sequel: beguiling and believable
I was privileged to have a pre-publication review copy.
To open the pages of a historical novel written by D.M. Denton is to find that the past is no longer a foreign country. In this beautifully realized sequel to A House Near Luccoli, the author once again effortlessly blends the vividly imagined fictional character Donatella with real-life historical figures and settings to create a world that is as beguiling as it is believable.
We are invited to follow Donatella’s progress as she faces a very different future from the one she had begun to imagine for herself – without the quixotic musical genius, the 17th century Italian composer, Alessandro Stradella, who reawakened her passions and zest for life.
This is a subtle, understated exploration of love and lost possibility and there are no easy answers or conventional happy endings. As Albert Schweitzer wrote, ‘In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being’. There can be no better description of Donatella’s encounter with Stradella in A House Near Luccoli – but now living in England, and haunted by vivid memories of her time with him in Italy, what can life hold for her?
Donatella, her heart awoken and then broken, remains ‘another man’s secret’. She can perhaps reveal herself again, but surrender has many guises.
Scrupulously researched and historically accurate, the novel immerses the reader in its historical period. That we can meet Purcell within these pages and find him totally believable as a living, breathing human being is a mark of the author’s imaginative powers and literary skill. There are, appropriately enough, no false notes to be found.
Read on amazon.com
A beautifully realised sequel: beguiling and believable
I was privileged to have a pre-publication review copy.
To open the pages of a historical novel written by D.M. Denton is to find that the past is no longer a foreign country. In this beautifully realized sequel to A House Near Luccoli, the author once again effortlessly blends the vividly imagined fictional character Donatella with real-life historical figures and settings to create a world that is as beguiling as it is believable.
We are invited to follow Donatella’s progress as she faces a very different future from the one she had begun to imagine for herself – without the quixotic musical genius, the 17th century Italian composer, Alessandro Stradella, who reawakened her passions and zest for life.
This is a subtle, understated exploration of love and lost possibility and there are no easy answers or conventional happy endings. As Albert Schweitzer wrote, ‘In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being’. There can be no better description of Donatella’s encounter with Stradella in A House Near Luccoli – but now living in England, and haunted by vivid memories of her time with him in Italy, what can life hold for her?
Donatella, her heart awoken and then broken, remains ‘another man’s secret’. She can perhaps reveal herself again, but surrender has many guises.
Scrupulously researched and historically accurate, the novel immerses the reader in its historical period. That we can meet Purcell within these pages and find him totally believable as a living, breathing human being is a mark of the author’s imaginative powers and literary skill. There are, appropriately enough, no false notes to be found.
Read on amazon.com
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